The Rising Star
by waffletoast215
Summary: The BTR members have taken a break to allow Logan to finish med school. As James decides to work on his solo career, Carlos realizes how much he misses him, and hurries to find him as James opens up a music festival. Contains Jarlos.


**A/N: I normally think that BTR stayed together in a group after the events of Big Time Dreams, but I wrote this in a universe where they end up taking a break from being a band in able to allow Logan to finish medical school, which causes James to pursue a solo career, so it almost parallels real life in a way with them all pursuing their solo work right now. And Carlos is just...being a party king as always xD but enjoy, nonetheless.**

* * *

"All right, let's get this party started!" Carlos announced into a microphone. He stood in front of a large throng of people, all standing in front of the orange Hawaii sunset.

The crowd cheered and Carlos turned on a radio and several large speakers. Music started to blast all across the beach.

"Great party, Carlos!" Some of the guests went up to him and greeted.

"Thanks!" He said. "Oh, would you like a drink?" He reached down into a cooler. "I've got some soda, and-"

"Don't worry, we got some from the other cooler." They waved their hands in dismissal and soon walked away to chat with the other guests.

Carlos smiled with satisfaction as he looked at the crowd he had gathered. They all appeared to be enjoying themselves. _If James were here, he'd probably call me a party king…_

The music faded out and the radio station cut to commercial. "Don't forget to tune into the iHeart Festival, tonight on CW TV! We've got an all-star lineup, including Bebe Rexha, David Guetta…"

Carlos took a sip of his root beer. _That festival sounds kinda fun…_ he thought as he listened to the announcer list the acts performing.

"…and our Rising Star winner, James Diamond!"

Carlos spit out his soda and threw the can on the ground. He coughed.

"Hey, Carlos, how's it going?" A few guests approached him.

"I gotta go!" Carlos said as he frantically rummaged through his belongings until he pulled out his black hockey helmet.

They expressed confusion on their faces.

"I'll be back soon! Just enjoy the party!" He put the helmet on and tapped it twice. He sprinted out to his car.

He sat in the driver's seat and fumbled with his phone.

"How do I…" He mumbled to himself as he tried to use the American Airlines app. After a couple of minutes, he closed the app and looked through his contacts until he scrolled upon the name _Logan Mitchell._ He hit 'call'.

The phone rang several times and then Logan picked up. "Hello?"

"LOGAN, LOGAN, HELP!" Carlos yelled.

"Carlos, this better be important, I'm studying-"

"I can't figure out how to buy a plane ticket!"

"Can't you just use the app?"

"I forgot how, I just want to get to Las Vegas like right now-"

Logan sighed. He looked down at his papers, covered in notes on how to cure ailments of the heart. He then glanced at his laptop.

"Fine, fine, I'll buy the ticket for you."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Carlos repeated.

Logan clicked through the website. "Las Vegas, right now?" He echoed.

"Yeah!"

He ordered the ticket. "It's on your email, just check it, and when they ask to see your ticket, show them the QR code."

"The what?"

"The weird looking square."

"Oh, what time is it at?"

"The flight boards at 7:15."

Carlos glanced at his wristwatch. It was 7PM. He gasped.

"See ya, Logan!" He hung up the phone.

Logan glanced at his phone, watching the call end. He looked back at his notes. He smiled a bit.

Carlos drove until he reached the airport. He sprinted in, yelling, "James, I'm coming!"

Onlookers turned their heads, wondering what the commotion was about.

Eventually, Carlos reached the gates. He ran down the long hallway, trying to find the gate that matched the one on his ticket.

He finally arrived at his gate. "Don't leave yet! I gotta see James!" He shouted.

"Sir, we haven't started boarding yet." One of the flight staff told him.

"Oh…." He said quietly, with realization. He sat down in a nearby chair, and looked up at the large TV that was near the gate.

They were broadcasting the pre-show for the iHeart Festival. "Look, there's James Diamond!" One of the reporters shouted.

James walked over towards her and she began to interview him.

"Are you excited for today's show?" She began.

"Yeah, absolutely!" He responded.

Carlos' attention wandered when he noticed that someone was sitting next to him. Below their chair was a small dog in a pet carrier.

"Oh wow, what kind of dog is that?" Carlos kneeled down excitedly to look through the door of the cage.

"It's a pug." The young man next to him answered.

Carlos looked up at him and smiled. "Oh, you have some oatmeal on your face. Here, lemme get it for you!" Carlos took out a tissue and reached towards his face.

The young man was taken aback; He'd never met someone as eccentric as Carlos before. He took a closer look at him.

"Hey, you look familiar, are you…" His eyes widened when he realized. "You're Carlos Garcia!"

Carlos smiled. "Yeah, that's me!"

The young man burst into a bunch of questions. "How's Kendall?"

"I think he's in a game right no-"

"When are BTR coming back?"

"Once Logan finishes med scho-"

"What's your ideal type of girl?"

Carlos leaned back and closed his mouth. He sat in silence for a moment, thinking about it.

"Oh, well um, she'd probably have to be someone who's funny and nice." He glanced at the tv, where James was still being interviewed. "Although…sometimes, I think I like boys too. Really, I'll like anyone who's nice and fun to be with…"

"Flight 2097 is boarding now. May first class members please show me their tickets?" The flight attendant announced.

"Oh, I'll see ya later, okay!" Carlos waved as he got in line. He quickly showed the flight attendant his ticket and then jogged onto the plane.

* * *

A couple hours later, the plane finally arrived in Las Vegas. Carlos called for a taxi and eventually arrived at the stadium.

He excitedly ran into the backstage area, shoving a security guard to the side. "Where's James?"

One of the staff members answered. "He just left to go on stage."

Carlos sighed.

The staff member looked at him. "Hey, wait, you're Carlos Garcia!"

He smiled at her.

"You should've told us you were coming!" She informed the security guard that he was welcome.

Carlos slowly walked towards the entrance to the stage. The show was starting, and the roar of the audience was deafening. He crept forward and peeked through the curtains to get a view of James.

As he lay eyes on James, he blushed, and his mouth opened a bit. _James, you still got it!_ He thought.

As he switched songs, James took off his red jacket to reveal a black muscle shirt. He stood tall, and danced passionately.

"Wow…" Carlos muttered.

Eventually James' performance came to a close, and he began to walk backstage.

Carlos quickly sat down on a couch in the green room. _I hope James didn't see me…_

Someone handed James a towel, which he used to wipe sweat off his face. "You were great out there, James!"

Paparazzi started to hound him. "James, that was amazing! Are BTR going to get back together soon? What inspired-"

"STOP ASKING JAMES QUESTIONS!" A booming voice yelled. It was Gustavo, who approached James along with Kelly. "I'm James' manager, so I'll be answering ALL THE QUESTIONS!"

The crowd shifted to Gustavo and Kelly.

James walked away, and gave Gustavo a thumbs up and a smile.

He stopped walking when he noticed Carlos sitting on the couch. "Carlos?" He asked.

Carlos smiled, a few tears in his eyes. He ran up to James, hugged him and then kissed him on the cheek.

"Whoa, take it easy there!" James laughed. "What's gotten into you? How'd you get here?"

Carlos continued to hug James. "It's been so long since I saw you in person since you went on tour, and I heard you were here, and I came right over, and, you were so good and I'm so proud of you!"

James chuckled. "Thanks."

He sat down on the couch with Carlos. "So, you missed me?"

"Yeah!" Carlos grabbed James' hand. "I just missed you a ton, and I was thinking, I really like you after all we went through and I just missed you so much-"

"Hey, it's fine!" James put his other hand on Carlos' shoulder. "My show is done, so now I'm all yours. You wanna go watch the other artists with me?"

"I'd love to!" Carlos pulled James in with another hug.


End file.
